Wednesday, April 28, 2010

The Nine Rooms of Happiness

The Nine Rooms of Happiness

I can't remember things being balanced as they are now. The dogs, school, friends and family, my house, activities... I read in an article that most women's happiness is split up like rooms in a house. It helps you to "learn to love yourself more, find your true purpose, and get over life's little imperfections".

Here are the nine rooms they describe:

Attic: holds your emotional heirlooms and family expectations. From a long line of doctors but don't want to be one? Welcome to the attic.

Living room: for your social life with friends and neighbors, so this is also the room for envy and overcommitment

Family room: where you deal with your parents, siblings, and anyone else with whom you can be fully yourself and still share unconditional love

Kitchen: where everyone gathers at the table for emotional "nourishment" (catching up, connecting) and sorting out the chores

Kid's room: where you decide whether to have children: if the answer is yes, this is the place for your parenting dilemmas and decisions

Office: for work and career. This is also where you can pay the bills

Bathroom: with both scale and mirror, is where you face body image, aging, health, and wellness

Bedroom: where you handle your intimacy-sex, love, desire, connection with your mate or the search of a life partner.

Basement: holds all the memories, scrapbooks and any childhood events that shaped your past.

They also have a 10th room: a room of one's own. It might be a sunny porch, a cozy corner, a mental space (even an activity such as a walk or jog) where you reflect on your life and role in the world. How ca you do more of what you love? You contemplate the big existential questions here.

It's easy to relate for me because I've KNOW not every room is going to be perfect in our house every day. What I've learned is that I shouldn't let the "messy" rooms ruin the mood of my house overall (aka my overall happiness). The decision is up to me to clean it up the messy rooms (or let it be), to still enjoy the rooms that are clean, and accept that I can't be in every room at once so balancing all rooms is key rather than having keeping rooms in perfect condition.